Apparatus for spraying



Feb. 26, 1952 w. M. SPRENG 2,587,240

APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING Filed Dec; 16, 14 4 Sheets-Sheet x INVENTOR WARREN M. SPRENG.

VMM WW ATTOR NEYS Feb. 26, 1952 w. M. SPRENG 2,587,240

APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING Filed Dec. 16, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet f.

INVENTOR WARREN M. SPRENG ATTORNEYS Feb. 26, 1952 w. M. SPRENG 2,587,240

APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING Filed Dec. 16, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR WARREN M. SPRENG By yoamzn $79M ATTORNEYS W. M. SPRENG APPARATUS FOR SPRAYING Feb. 26, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 16, 1948 INVENTOR B WARREN M. SPRENG y 7% Ema,

ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 26, 1952 Warren M. 'Spreng, -Ashlanii,"i()hio, \assignor 'to 'TheTfErMyers '&Bro. 00., Ashlantlyohima corporatiomof flliio .--Anp1ication-:December 16, 194rerialNor 65 ,561

:6Claims. 1 1

This invention (relates to .an improved-machine for spraying insecticides and fungicides ,on .iruit trees, tbiishesiand groundicrcps. or if on dispensin weed killing tchemicals onto ground vegetation. Inparticulanthis ,inventicmrelates to at spraying machine in which rthe insecticide orifllngicide ,is aireborneafrom -,themacliine ,to "the point of application.

:In modern ;practices the xspraying of crops. is generally "carried out over large eacreagesy and v-it is iin portant cthat (this vbe done .as economically asgpossible. Accordingly, tits is importanttohave aispraying-ior-dusting.machine which will operate asrrapidlyas possibleiand with thelsmallest amount iofpattendance. iMaGhines vcurrently emplcyed generally require :a driver and lat least one-or .twospray gun=,operators, and ithe speed of :operationeohthe machine ismuch less/than necessary to afiordi-economical coverage of [large areas.

machines ,usingspray guns ,operated by individualxoperators,:thei stream -.frem the-;gunse is ordinarily of high pressure, and unless the operators tare ,particularly-mareful, {serious damage .to the. foliagetand efruit canzresult. Additionally,

the mechanismior creating-. a ;high ,pressurejfiuid which emanates from the gun is relatively expensive, as the guns are also, and sthe {complete machine ;ior doingihighapressurerspraym iisithus ofilrathenhiglncost.

-llihe present iinvuention proposes etc i overcome the difiiculties referred to above by providing a machine which is muchmore rapid in operation than machines of the prior art, which is more inexpensive'to '-build"'and-operate," and which'does not harm the foliageflfruit'or plantsrbeingitreated by1,e1irninating the high pressure delivery from the machine.

-It is a*stil1 further objectof this invention to provide a spraying machine which will produce a fog of-thednsecticide or fungicide being applied and "thus envelop the foliage and fruit -=being treated and without harming ithe said fruit and :foliage.

-A'*still 'further object of 'thisinvention-is the provisicnao'f a sprayingrarrangement for *dispensing --1iquids which --is*efiective forgently agitating the foliage beingv sprayed whereby "all portions of the said foliage be'come treated by 'the said liquid. it is =-also'-an object 'of thisinvention to provide a spraying :machine for dispensing insecticides andr fungicides' in liquid form' 'whichwiil require a Fminimum-"of attention while inoper-ation and which will operate ata higlr rate of -speed thereby =resulting in economical application of the -insecticides and tung'icides.

also iillustratin th access inlate tin t on hereofjfor seamin eaccess 51 .0 ;-the slammin ;A still furtherobjectf is the provision..of ,a spraying..machine which shall be adjustable in order to accommodate fit to .various types :of jfoliage suhaas .trees andgroiindjfoliage"and which will also I be ,adjustablelin ,oriderfto adapt? t. 0 0 app ying the material ,toflarsingle row \ofj'foliage or to tworows atthe. sametime.

.Ihese and other ,objects and advantages will become more apparent tupon referencelto'the fol lowing specificationtakenim connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure. Us a perspectiveview ofjasprayingimachineconstructe'd according to; myfi-nvention.

Figure '2 "is a front elevational "View of the spraying machine showing it inthe. act of. applyins. Spraying material to a tree.

Figure '3fis a verticallongitu'dlinalsection taken through Ithe machine showing the construction thereof and may be indicated bythe cutting plane33'-3 on Figure '1.

Figure 4 is a transverse 'sectionfin'dicating fthe blower arrangement and lthe osci1lating;mechanism therefor and is indicated. by thelline .;4.4 onJiigureI3.

Figure 1 5 vlis. still anothertransverse. sectioni and isiin dicated by the 1ine15-I'-'5 iorLEigurefB.

Figure Grist aperspective .view, showing thesdual' blowerarrangement.

Figure fleistahdetai-led yiewr-indicatedibyv the-line 1-7 tonyFigure Grandt-showinectheimeansiior Vattaching the; housings ofathe-z twoeblowers together.

Figure 52 dis :a rpcrs pective view Showing che lo er :sa the iD SitiQI mOf adjustmentv-land he backecf.

means shown inizfllieurer'l; and Jiigure i9 asviewi showing;the:ielnwerrhousings Setifor dischargezat l:;degr,ees;apart.

:Reierring 170 the uirawings: somewhatrmoreein of receiving liquid solut-ions of insecticide sorfungicide, i'but it will -be understoocl'ithatzunder certain circumstances means could ibe t'pIQVi'dQd' for carrying' suchmaterials im other K'forxns.

ers-

At the opposite end of theframe l there is a power unit indicated by the reference numeral l8 and which is preferably a suitable engine of the internal combustion type. This engine provioes the entire power for the spraying unit, serving to drive the blowers, the agitator in the tank lu' which retains the material therein thoroughly admixed, and also driving the pumping mechanism which conveys the material to be dispehsed from the tank It to the discharge openings of the blowers. Themotor 18 includes an out-put shaft 20 and this shaft 28 carries the pulley arrangement at 22. The pulley arrangement at 22 has passing thereover the V-belts or other driving means 24 and which, in turn, pass over the pulley arrangement at 26 mounted on the ena of a shaft 28. The shaft 28 extends completely through the blower units which ar moicated at 30 and 32 and has mounted thereon within the blowers the fan impellers 34 and 36. As will be seen in Figure 3, the shaft 28 extends out the right or rear side of the blower units and has mounted thereon a pulley 33 which drives a belt 40 that passes over another pulley 42 on the in-put shaft of a speed reducing mechanism 44.

The speed reducing mechamsm at 44 is for the purpose of causing the blower housings to oscillate, and, accordingly, the unit 44 drives a crank arm 46 which is connected, as will best be seen in Figure 4, by a pitman or drag link 48 with a crank pin on the housing of blower 32 as at 50. It will be apparent that as the engine It drives shaft 28 the impellers in the blower housings will rotate while at the same time the blower housings will oscillate about the shaft 28 at a reduced :1.

together as indicated in Figures 6 and 7. These figures show the attaching and clamping screws 56 which extend through the blower housings and into suitable retaining rings. These screws form the sole connection between the housings, and it will be apparent that loosening of the screws will permit the housings'to be adjusted relatively to each other. The relative adjustment of the housings covers a range of approximately 180 de- 'grees so that thesaid blowers can be adjusted to discharge in directly opposite directions or can discharge parallel with each other.

The amount of oscillation of the blower housings is adjustable by means of adjustment of the crank arm 46 and the particular angle through which the housings will oscillate can be adjusted by adjusting the length of the drag link 48. Referring to Figure 4 it will be seen that the crank arm 48 comprises a box-like member 58 which is clamped to the blockBO on the out-put shaft of the reducing mechanism 44 by means of the clamp bolts 62. The box-like member 58 is slotted and by loosening the bolts 62 it can be adjusted in order to adjust the distance between thecenter of the crank pin 64 at the crank arm end of the pitman and the center of the outputshaft of the reducing mechanism. Preferably, this adjustment will at least accommodate changes of oscillation of the blower housings from 20 degrees to about 90 degrees. It will be understood, however, that if desired the adjustment of 4 the crank arm could be such that. the blower housings would be held against oscillation.

It will also be noted in Figure 4 that the length of drag link 48 can be adjusted as by means of the threaded joints at 66 and the clamping nuts 68 for adjusting the circumferential position of the are through which the blowers are oscillated.

Referring now to the construction of the blowers, it will be seen that each thereof has a double width outlet. That is, the outlet opening of each of the blowers indicated at 10 is of substantially twice the width of the impeller of the blower.

Thus, as air enters the inlet openings of the blowers, these inlets being indicated by the coneshaped entrances at 12, it is impelled outwardly by .the impellers and then issues through the outlet openings as a relatively low velocity air stream and over a relatively wide area. This is in contradistinction to a high pressure, high velocity stream issuing over a relatively small area as in spraying machines of the prior art.

' During operation of the machine insecticide or fungicide or the other material to be dispensed is supplied to the air stream by means of the manifolds 14 which are positioned in the blower outlets. These manifolds comprise a plurality of jets 76 opening outwardly in the direction of the air streams issuing from the blowers.

These manifolds are supplied with the material to be dispensed through the flexible conduits 18 which connect with a pipe 80 leading to the discharge side of a pump that is driven by the belt connection with the pulley arrangement 22- as indicated by the reference numeral 92. inlet side of the pump 90 is connected by a pipe 94 with a port in the tank 16 and draws the material to be dispensed therefrom. There is preferably included in the pipe 84 a shut-off valve 96 and a screening arrangement 98.

The material within the tank 16 is maintainedagitated in order to keep it thoroughly admixed by means of an agitator shaft I00 which includes the paddles or propellers I02 and which extends out the front end of the tank It and mounts a pulley I04 that is driven from the in-put shaft of the speed reducing device 44 as by means of the pulley I06. 7

Since the blower housings oscillate, the pipe 80 includes a length of flexible tube 82 which permits free relative movement between the blower housings and the other parts of the spraying machine.

Operation The machine of this invention is placed in operation by placing the material to be dispensed has been found that the blower housings can be locked together at an angle of about 25 degrees from each other, and the lower fan will direct spraying material into thebottom of the tree while the other fan directs spraying material to the top of the tree. The amount of oscillation of the fan cases at this time can be materially reduced because of the wide angle of spray issuing therefrom, It will be noted that at this time the fog emanating from the blowers hasfa tend:

5 ency to agitate the foliage of --the tree so that spray imaterial reaches all,.parts thereof. :At the same time the agitation of thefoliage iszso gentle that there :is no harm donethereto and none of the :fruit is-knocked from the ;tree.

:If shorter trees are to .rbe/sprayed, the'blower housings can be set at less angularity'tdeach other and the amount of oscillation thereof :is correspondingly reduced.

If the trees to be sprayedare quite short, it is possible that the blowerhousings can beset to blow outzopposite sides of the machine as indicated in Figure 9, and eifective coverage of one side each of twoadjacentrowsthereby effected. In operating in this manner,'it will be noted-that the beneficial gentle agitation iof-zthe foliagelobtained by the applicants arrangement is still effective in effecting complete coverage of the vegetation being sprayed.

If ground crops or very small bushes are to be sprayed, the blower housings can be adjusted to 180 degrees apart from each other, and the oscillation of the blowers reduced to a minimum so that substantially all of the spraying material is directed toward the ground.

In connection with reversing the one blower housing in order to cause it to discharge at 180 degrees from the other thereof, it is preferable to remove the manifold from the housing to be reversed, and to reverse the said manifold in the discharge opening of the blower. This permits the same flexible conduits 18 to be employed for all positions of operation of the blower housings.

In some instances it may be desirable to supply spray material to only one of the manifolds M, and to this end, there may be included a shut-off valve I08 in the pipe leading to the manifold furthest from the pump 90.

It will be understood that the angles of oscillation of the blowers and the adjustability thereof relative to each other referred to in the foregoing are merely exemplary of the many modifications that could be made of this device within the purview of the invention. Accordingly, I do not desire to be limited to the particular arrangement shown and described and to the particular degrees of adjustability thereof set forth, but desire to comprehend such modifications and alterations as may be held to come within the scope of the appended claims.

I I claim:

1. In a spraying machine: a pair of adjacently arranged axially aligned blowers each having a housing with a peripheral discharge opening, means for clamping the said housings together in any predetermined position of relative angularity of a plane parallel to the direction of discharge therefrom, means for oscillating said housings as a unit about their axis for varying the vertical angle of discharge therefrom, and means for suplying insecticide or fungicide to the outlets of said blowers to be borne by the air stream therefrom.

2. In a spraying machine; a shaft, 9, pair of spaced air impellers mounted on said shaft, a housing surrounding each impeller and each housing having a peripheral outlet, said housings being journaled for oscillating movement about said shaft, means adjustably clamping said housings together for predetermining the angle between the outlets thereof, means driven by said shaft and connected with one of said housings for oscillating the housings as a unit during the rotation of said shaft, and means for supplying 6 material to be sprayed toitheaairistre'amsfemanat-v ing'fromsaidoutlets. i

3. In a spraying machine v.a frame, -a blower shaft "journaled on :a horizontal axis iin'rsaid frame, a pair :of spaced air "impellers mounted on said shaft, "a blower housing'surrounding each impeller and each housinghaving a 'peripheral discharge opening, said housings being "journaled for oscillating movement about the axis 0f said shaft, means adjustably securing said housings together to predeterminethe angle between the outlets thereof, adjustable means connected with one of said housings for causing oscillation of the housings as a unit, means for driving said last mentioned means fromthe said blower shaft, and means for supplying materialto be'sprayed to the outlet openings of said blowers to be borne by the air streams therefrom.

4. In a spraying machine; a portable frame having ground wheels, a blower shaft journaled on a horizontal axis extending lengthwise of said machine, a pair of spaced air impellers mounted on said shaft to be driven thereby, a blower housing having a tangential discharge opening surrounding each of said impellers and each of said housings being journaled for rotary movement about the axis of said shaft, said housings abutting and means adjustably connecting said housings together to predetermine the angle between the outlets thereof, a rotary crank arm journaled in said frame and being connected with one of said housings whereby rotary movement of said arm will produce oscillating movements of said housings as a unit, a reducing drive means connecting said shaft with said crank arm, motor means for driving said shaft, and means for supplying the material to be sprayed to the outlets of said housings to be borne by the air streams issuing therefrom.

5. In a spraying machine; a portable frame having ground wheels, a pair of blower housings having tangential discharge openings said housings being aligned and adjustably secured together on an axis extending horizontally and lengthwise of said machine, said housings being journaled on said axis for rotary movement in a vertical plane, a blower shaft extending completely through said housings and journaled independently thereof on the same axis for rotary movement, an impeller on said shaft within each of said housings, a variable throw crank journaled in said frame and connected with said housings for oscillating the same in a vertical plane, means for driving said variable crank arm by said shaft, a tank on said frame containing material to be dispensed, an agitator in said tank and driving means for said agitator connected with said shaft, and means including a pump for conveying material from said tank to the discharge openings of said housings.

6. In a spraying machine; a mobile frame having ground wheels, a blower shaft journaled on a horizontal axis extending lengthwise of said frame, a pair of air impellers mounted on said shaft to be driven thereby, a blower housing surrounding each impeller and each housing having an axial inlet and a tangential discharge opening, said housings abutting on their adjacent sides and having adjustable clamping means for retaining them in any position of angular adjustment, means journaling said housings for oscillation as a unit about the axis of said shaft, a drag link connected with one of said housings for oscillating said housings as a unit, an adjustable throw crank arm connected with said drag link,

aspeed reducer connected for driving said crank arm, means for driving said speed reducer from said blower shaft, a spraying material tank mounted on said frame and having an agitator therein, means for driving said agitator from the shaft of said speed reducer, a motor for driving said blower shaft, a pump for conveying spraying material from said tank to the outlets, of said blowers, and means for driving said pump by said motor.

WARREN M. SPRENG.

I file of this patent:

8 UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number 15 I 122,941

Name Date Root Dec. 13, 1927 Johnson Dec. 2, 1930 Towt Apr. 23, 1935 Daugherty Nov. 5, 1940 Saxe Feb; 11, 1941 Launder Apr. 15, 1941 Raper May 1, 1945 Daugherty June 24, 1947 Shade Oct. 21, 1947 Copley May 8, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Feb. 13, 1919 

